St Johnstone striker, Stevie May, is set to sign a loan deal with Livingston.
It will be an end of an era departure from McDiarmid Park, with the Perth legend the last of the 2014 and 2021 cup-winning teams to move on.
This is the final year of May’s contract, meaning there’s a slim chance he could be recalled.
But it is highly likely that his last appearance for Saints will be a second half cameo in the Premier Sports Cup at Brechin in July.
Manager, Craig Levein, was full of praise for the 31-year-old, who has dropped down the attacking pecking order over the last couple of months.
“Stevie has been here a long time and he’s had an incredible amount of success with the club,” said Levein.
“Three cup wins is amazing.
“He’s a really good bloke.
“Even though he’s been disappointed to not be playing he’s come in and trained well with us every day and been really professional.
“Stevie can see that we’ve got Adama (Sidibeh), Benji (Kimpioka), young Makenzie (Kirk) and Nicky (Clark), with Uche (Ikpeazu) still to come back.
“It will have been frustrating for him but he’s not daft.
“There are so many people in front of him.
“I haven’t got a negative word to say about Stevie.
“I can remember seeing him on loan at Alloa all those years ago when I was there to watch somebody else.
“He was just a kid but he was really good that day – constantly running in behind.
“I think he’ll do really well for Davie (Martindale) at Livingston.
“He’s got a calmness in his head, which comes with experience and we’ve seen here that he’s still training at a good level.
“I’m sure he’ll score goals in the Championship.”
Optimistic Ikpeazu
Meanwhile, Ikpeazu could make his debut for Saints next month, having injured his knee before pre-season even started.
“He’s improving,” Levein reported.
“He was back up here for a bit and is now in his second week at St George’s Park (the English FA’s national football centre).
“Uche thinks he’ll be back in September and hopefully he’s right.
“He’ll add something else to our attacking options.
“I looked at what we had – Benji and Adama both like to run behind, and after getting Makenzie, he’s another player who has the pace to do that.
“Nicky and Makenzie are natural finishers.
“The only thing we didn’t have was brute strength.
“That’s what Uche brings.
“He’s a magnet for defenders – they crowd round him as he’s holding them off.
“I don’t know yet who will be best-suited to play alongside him.
“And if Benji and Adama are still banging goals in when Uche comes back then he’ll have to sit on the bench.
“It’s the sort of problem you want to have as a manager.”
Outs then ins
With May’s departure and other loans set to be confirmed, Levein will soon be able to turn his thoughts to further recruitment.
“My concern at the minute is we need another centre-back, a midfielder and a left-sided player,” he said.
“Andre (Raymond) has been fantastic but he’s come from the third division in Portugal and I wonder how long this progress will continue before he hits a brick wall because he’s not done a pre-season.
“I’m trying to be very careful with him – to make sure there isn’t any muscle damage, in particular.”
David Keltjens is not yet in full training but is “improving”.
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